


the road is long (i can't lie, it ain't a sweet life)

by PuriPuki



Series: blessed be the boys time can't capture [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: (this is in reference to the original shepherds), Character Study, Gen, M/M, Parent Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-09
Updated: 2016-11-09
Packaged: 2018-08-30 02:47:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8515609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PuriPuki/pseuds/PuriPuki
Summary: They grow flowers and fruits in the garden, Lissa drills into him the exact method of bandaging wounds, and he is happy. It does not last.





	

He grows up in a small farming village, with his father and mother and grandmother, for the first eight years of his life. Owain learns swordplay from his father, a strong man who grew into greatness from nothing, and learns kindness from his mother. They grow flowers and fruits in the garden, Lissa drills into him the exact method of bandaging wounds, and he is happy.

 

It does not last.

 

One sunny summer day, he and his father are out in the woods, seeing if their traps have caught anything. It’s a good haul - a few rabbits and squirrels so far. His father says he’s hoping for a deer in one of the bigger snares, says it’s been years since he had veal. Owain ponders what veal might taste like - even in a village nestled in the woods, deer is a rarity. He’s about to ask what it tastes like when the arrow comes out of nowhere.

 

It misses his shoulder by an inch, and by the time Owain can process that  _ someone is firing at them _ , he’s in his father’s arms. More arrows come, each landing along his father’s spine. He practically has to drag him back home, their catch left in the woods. His linen clothes are raspberry red now, his mother’s hands will be any minute now and… the next day, he clings to his mother’s skirts as they burn a pyre just outside of town.

 

Broken recover staves fuel the fire.

 

After the fire dies out, he and his mother gather their things. His mother invites his nana to come to Ylisstol with them, but she declines - he overhears her say, “I was born here, love, and I’m not afraid to die here,” when she thinks he’s asleep. Lucina and her parents are welcoming, but all he wants is to sleep and forget.

 

They practice together, fight each other with wooden swords and fists when they feel the need. They both excel under Chrom’s guidance, he promises that they’ll be the best swordsmen of their time, but Owain only wants to hear his father’s familiar voice and common man’s twang.

 

He stands by his cousin when she is crowned as the heir to the nation, his mother acting as her guide. Lucina looks so scared, so young. Owain already misses Morgan, but he’ll be strong now - he caught his mother crying when the news came, and promised himself that he’d be strong for her.

 

Two years pass without much incidence. It’s hard to believe that his mother is the last living Shepherd, but he sees the anger in her eyes and the callouses on her hands. Owain knows she’s just as much of a warrior as his uncle was. 

 

He and Brady are twelve now, and Lissa takes them to Themis to pay respects to Maribelle on her birthday. The graveyard is quiet, too quiet for what’s normal, and they hear the wyvern before they see it. Lissa pushes them both underneath the nearby tree, leaving herself open to attack. It takes her as a small band of Risen pour out of the nearby woods, leaving only Owain to protect himself and his family. Even with a rusty bronze sword, he is strong and the Risen are gone quickly. When the last one falls, the wyvern drops Lissa from several feet up in the air, and she lands with a sickening crack as it flies away.

 

Brady sets to work immediately, using Lissa’s own staff to mend her wounds. Owain talks to her, tries to keep her awake with old stories, like “Hey mom, remember that one time dad and I got lost in the woods, and you had to...”

 

Hours pass. Night draws close, but the holes in her body are still gaping.

 

They carry her back to Ylisstol. Owain wants to take her home, back to their village to be buried with her husband and mother in law. Lucina stops him, tells him, “We can’t. We have to burn her.”

 

He wants to be angry at her, but he’s only angry at himself.

 

Four years go by, the conditions worsening each day. Soon enough, he’s off in search of two gemstones, each little buds of hope. When he and Brady and Yarne and Inigo return, they have four stones. They got Argent, they succeeded in that, but Gules is gone. Shattered. They have four of the five though, they can go home, they can go back, he can see his mom and dad again, he can-

 

They squabble, bicker amongst themselves. Brady doesn’t want to go. Owain doesn’t want to leave him. (That night, together, in a futile fight, they try to save a little girl. She doesn’t make it, she never would’ve, but Owain burns her face into his memory. If he sees her again, sees the little orphan girl he tried to hard to save, he’ll be able to help her at least once)

 

When they go back, he lands in Valm, shortly after the war with Plegia ends. He settles into the rhythm of a small village, filled with sages and monks. He protects them from any vagabonds, ruffians, keeps them safe. A year later, his uncle finds him and Owain really  _ really  _ can’t help how quickly he finds himself running across the field to hug his parents

 

It’s just… been so long since he saw their faces. He almost doesn’t recognize his father.

 

Because they found him first, he gets to be there when all of the others rejoin them. He’s just as tearful as Brady is when they reunite, peppering kisses across Brady’s face. Despite their present contentedness, he goes through the motions every day, thinking,  _ What if today is the end? What if today is the day I die? _ , but his mother’s praise and his father’s guidance and the gentle comfort of his friends makes him think,  _ Maybe I’ll be just fine _ .

 

(One day, he is.)


End file.
